The present invention relates to microwave ovens having food browning capability and more particularly to an oven providing, in combination, a microwave heating energy system and a heated air circulating system.
Ovens are known which comprise an enclosed oven cavity to which microwave energy is supplied to be absorbed by foods placed in the cavity, thereby heating the food. One disadvantage of such microwave ovens when used for cooking food is that they do not always brown the surface of the food to an acceptable color, which in some instances may give the appearance of being undercooked by comparison with food cooked in ovens of the more traditional type.
Another known type of oven comprises an enclosed oven cavity through which air is circulated by a fan, the air being withdrawn from the cavity and then heated before being returned thereto. Ovens of this kind have the disadvantage that they take almost as long to cook a small amount of food as they do to cook the maximum amount of food which could be accommodated in the oven.
By contrast, the cooking time in a microwave oven is almost proportional to the amount of food in the oven, the cooking time for a fully charged microwave oven and a fully charged recirculating air oven of equal heating capacity being similar. On the other hand, a recirculating air oven which heats food by thermal conduction through its surface yields cooked food which is conventionally oven-browned.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an oven which has the advantages of both the microwave oven and the recirculating air oven.